Need advice / help with overspray

R

re-tired

New member
I have recently acquired a vehicle with some hard core overspray of some type. Its some pretty coarse stuff-- but certainly not a type of concrete.

I hit it first with a rotary and rupes blue pad and sonax cutmax, made the surface a bit smoother but didnt even phase the overspray. Next I switched to a aggressive wool pad and the cutmax- no difference.
I posted on a professional detailers YT video and asked him if I should try wet sanding-- his response , and he was serious was to try clay barring it.

What do you you folks suggest? I am thinking wet sanding starting @2K
 
Of course it was the FIRST thing I did
Hard for me to believe anyone would think otherwise- I just take for granted any one with any sense would wash and clay prior to any polishing

Maybe I shouldn`t????
 
Try a small spot with a mf towel and acetone (i know some folks will shake there heads no) and see if that will help

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
re-tired- Gee, this must be a big PIA...

Two Qs come to mind:

What does the overspray look like under magnification? Is it obviously paint? If so, what kind..auto/house/etc.?

Were you using *Overspray* Clay or regular Detailing Clay? IF the latter, you might want to try the former, but be prepared for some significant marring from it.
 
Accumulator said:
re-tired- Gee, this must be a big PIA...

Two Qs come to mind:

What does the overspray look like under magnification? Is it obviously paint? If so, what kind..auto/house/etc.?

Were you using *Overspray* Clay or regular Detailing Clay? IF the latter, you might want to try the former, but be prepared for some significant marring from it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for chiming in-- cant say I have ever heard of overspray clay, I used the medium stuff from pinnacle--- not the nice fine stuff anyone would use on good paint. I will look that up and give it a shot. I will take my opti- visor out tomorrow and have a look @ it thru them, but its only 10X
 
re-tired- The visors are great and I bet that 10X will be sufficient. You could always stack another magnifier if needed, but I myself don`t really like the 30X that so many recommend (my go-to for autopaint is only 15X, which is a big % jump over 10X but still in that ballpark IMO).

The Overspray Clays are nasty harsh things...they`re made specifically for this and that might be what`s needed here. IIRC somebody...ClayMagic? Meguiar`s? can`t recall... makes a "Red" version that`d fit the bill. But again, expect lots of not-micro-marring!

The possible uh-oh is that some paints basically "melt" themselves into whatever existing paint they land on, becoming one with it. Then you have real problems...but let`s keep our fingers crossed that this won`t be like that.

Somebody else will suggest using a (steel) razor blade, but...uhm...I`m not that guy. Somebody else...KB comes to mind...might use some other [cutting tool] and he..or his BuffDaddy website..might have some ideas.
 
I am going to try the red Meg`s
Put the opti- visor on and it looked like something that resembles something with ragged edges for the most part ( something like what a metal sprig / spark would look like) others look hollow ovals

So help me out here a little folks---- but is a clay like that more aggressive than a rotary /wool pad / cut max combo?- Would have thought that the rotary combo would be the most aggressive step outside of wet sanding.
 
re-tired said:
Of course it was the FIRST thing I did
Hard for me to believe anyone would think otherwise- I just take for granted any one with any sense would wash and clay prior to any polishing

Maybe I shouldn`t????
Click to expand...

This forum has 1000s of users, adding many new members every day. There are people with a background of washing their cars with windex to seasoned veterans who have forgotten more than most know. Cant assume anyone knows anything.

Back on topic. I had to deal with a urethane paint overspray on a couple cars years ago. NASTY stuff. It was at a local air museum and they had decided spraying an airplane outside on a windy day was a good idea :blink: Clay didn`t phase it, even wool on a rotary wasn`t entirely effective. It would rip it off but it would gum up and sling and stick somewhere else. It had been weeks and the stuff still wasn`t dry/hard. Ended up using thinner VERY CAREFULLY to remove the spots, and even then I couldn`t touch the bumper covers because the thinner actually would start eating into the clear of the bumper covers. So they went untouched. Best of luck to you with finding your solution. I wish I had any good advice
 
re-tired- I wish I knew more about this topic so I could give you more/better advice. My concern with using a rotary/harsh stuff combo would be that it might do at least as much/more to the oe paint compared to the overspray. If the harsh clay is used right it would hardly even touch the oe paint, or at least that`s what I`m thinking.

When claying, try to to the "shear off the overspray" rather than "scrubbing it off".

BUT...OTOH...Shane B has dealt with this and did best via rotary, I guess you`ll just have to try things with your fingers crossed.

Oh, and while I do understand why the "try clay" advice seemed kinda insulting, Mr. Brightside`s take would be that a newbie stumbling across the thread might not have thought of it.

Shane B.- That Urethane you had to deal with sounds like the "melt into the oe paint" dilemma that I`m hoping re-tired isn`t dealing with.
 
If the overspray have been on for a long time. You can test with something like 3M General Adisive Remover or Citrol 266 or something like that. This may not desolve it but it can softening it up a bit. Then the Meguiars Proffessional Red Clay Bar or 3M Perfect It Clay Bar to see if it`s enough to be able to pick it up. And as accumulator mentioned not claying as you see most do on YT with light scrubbing movement. A firm grip on the clay bar and clay lube and 1 pass over the overspray. How long the stroke is depending on the resistance you get from the surface. Max length of a foot maybe and wipe off the clay lube and inspect if it does anything on the overspray. When you looked close at it does the overspray looks clear or is it in any color? You mentioned overspray from like a grinder or something like that. It`s possible if it`s been sitting in a mechanic shop or in a garage somewhere they have sprayed it over the car with it. If you want to test this it`s easy done with an iron remover or a color changing wheel cleaner on a small spot and look if the overspray spots does bleed any. I would start with that as it`s so easy to test just to be sure. If it is iron particals from grinder overspray you may need to be doing a couple of iron remover applications. And then the clay will pull out the rest easier after that. Otherwise it`s testing your way through with different based solvents that is desolving the overspray paint. And do it some time apart so the oem paint don`t swell or damage it. Also do the testing on small spots and protect any plastic trim and rubber seals or other materials. Wetting a towel with the solvent and hold it against the overspray gets it more effective and if you use a disposeble mf towel you can lightly aggitate with it after a couple of minutes of dwell time.

Hope also as accumulator mentioned that it`s not desolved into the oem paint. Then if you are set to try any wet sanding start with something like p3000 wet sanding paper and a firm block. Something like the 3M Trizact disc is too pliable so it flexes down to the oem paint. So wet sanding it like you where to knock down orange peel could work with minimal abrading on the oem paint. Also if you use a finer grit you can hope it gets the overspray little by little. And always inspect what happens on the oem paint. If you see it dig in it try a stiffer wet sanding paper and finer grit. It`s more work but the oem paint is thin.

/ Tony
 
SWETM said:
.. if you are set to try any wet sanding start with something like p3000 wet sanding paper and a firm block....If you see it dig in it try a stiffer wet sanding paper..
Click to expand...

The abrasive blocks that Meguiar`s sells might be good for "firm as can be" as they`re basically just a hard, solid, rectangular piece of abrasive. Used very carefully, if everything goes right they could presumably just sand down the overspray without touching the oe paint..or at least not touching it much. Might not work all that great on curved surfaces, but on flat ones it`d be just like using one to flatten a blob of touchup paint. If everything goes right...
 
Accumulator said:
Shane B.- That Urethane you had to deal with sounds like the "melt into the oe paint" dilemma that I`m hoping re-tired isn`t dealing with.
Click to expand...

Actually exactly what happened... It was very textured, but the paint felt smooth as glass after using clay bar. Sheared off the high spots and all that was left was below the surface. It was not fun at all
 
Update-- clay bar still didnt touch it.
Will try some of the afore mentioned solvents on friday.
Hope I dont have to go the wet sanding route but if I do , I will start off @ 3K instead of 2K

Thanks to all of the fellas who gave input here-- really appreciate it-- keep `em coming!!

I will update this as I try what is suggested ;cause nothing I have tried so far on my own has even phased it
 
ShaneB said:
It was not fun at all
Click to expand...

That sounds like a real understatement!

re-tired said:
Update-- clay bar still didnt touch it.
Will try some of the afore mentioned solvents on friday.
Hope I dont have to go the wet sanding route but if I do , I will start off @ 3K instead of 2K

Thanks to all of the fellas who gave input here-- really appreciate it-- keep `em coming!!

I will update this as I try what is suggested ;cause nothing I have tried so far on my own has even phased it
Click to expand...

Aw, too bad the clay didn`t take care of it.

See if you get more feedback about which grit to use (if you end up going that route). Sometimes using too fine a grit can actually make things harder in the long run and I just don`t know enough about this to know which way I`d jump...at least not without actually being there and trying stuff myself.

This thread reminded me that I actually had to deal with this on my pal Bob`s Jag MKII...but fortunately it wasn`t a big deal (or else I would`ve remembered it sooner).
 
re-tired said:
I have recently acquired a vehicle with some hard core overspray of some type. Its some pretty coarse stuff-- but certainly not a type of concrete.

I hit it first with a rotary and rupes blue pad and sonax cutmax, made the surface a bit smoother but didnt even phase the overspray. Next I switched to a aggressive wool pad and the cutmax- no difference.
I posted on a professional detailers YT video and asked him if I should try wet sanding-- his response , and he was serious was to try clay barring it.

What do you you folks suggest? I am thinking wet sanding starting @2K
Click to expand...

Im not sure if this will entirely help or not, but i had a customer who had paint overspray and i used my steamer to get it out. I have a before and after on my website, if it looks anything like the one in the link then it may help.
 
GLDCLE said:
Im not sure if this will entirely help or not, but i had a customer who had paint overspray and i used my steamer to get it out. I have a before and after on my website, if it looks anything like the one in the link then it may help.
Click to expand...
No harm no foul to the new guy but linking to personal website is not permitted in the post body here at Autopia. The whole idea behind a forum like this is to bring information to this site so that members can come here to learn, share, take part in discussions and ask questions. Feel free to copy and paste information from your personal site here on Autopia. You may put a business link in your signature line. The link in the above post has been removed.
 
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